Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says, “There’s just no reason why 98 percent of Americans have to see their taxes go up because some members of Congress on the Republican side want to block tax rate increases for 2 percent of the wealthiest Americans” (“Geithner and GOP dig in on tax rates,” Page A1, Dec. 3). This avoids addressing the real problem — the massive overspending by government.

You and I cannot go over our budget without putting ourselves into bankruptcy. The US government spends 40 percent more that it receives in revenues. Why are we not demanding a balanced budget with a reduction in the debt? Why are we not balancing the budget by increasing everyone’s taxes in a graduated way so that everyone finally sees what is happening? Then why not reduce government expenditures by an amount sufficient to be in balance with annual income?

We are all in this together, and we all need to contribute to any solution. It is time for us to tell our president and Congress to be realistic. Tell them to stop grandstanding and making speeches to the public. Tell them to get behind closed doors and not come out until they work this thing out — hopefully before Dec. 31.